Frank Woodruff Buckles of Charles Town, W. Va., is 109 years old. To appreciate his lifespan consider that, at 10 years old, Frank would have known a great many people who had lived during the Civil War, concluded just 45 years before.

At his birth in 1901, the nation had five fewer states and 220 million fewer people than it has today. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the U.S. Army was about the 18th largest in the world, behind Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria. America was still a nation of farms and small towns.

But for its foray in the Spanish-American War of 1898, the national life had been insular and Americans were very much the "innocents abroad" when they traveled beyond its borders.

Buckles would be in the vanguard of America's entry upon the greater stage of world events. For Buckles is also a veteran. Of the 4,734,991 American veterans of World War I, only Buckles survives. He is the last Doughboy.....

Cheers, Nigel

"Ubique" - For the Royal Engineer it means 'Everywhere', For the Royal Artillery 'All over the place'.